Did anyone else miss this yesterday?

[Serial_Apologist]

BBC Radio 4

11.30 The Lost Women of British Jazz
Janine H Jones tells the story of the forgotten pioneering women of early jazz, uncovering how a burgeoning musical equality was deliberately quashed. The programme features archive recordings of musicians Ivy Benson (1913-93), Gracie Cole (1924-2006) and Kathy Stobart (1925-2014), who were part of the UK's post-war jazz scene in the 1940s, but whose careers have been largely forgotten.

On Radio 4!!!

Well, it's repeated this coming Saturday at 3.30 pm, also on Radio 4.

[Hornspieler]

BBC Radio 4

11.30 The Lost Women of British Jazz
Janine H Jones tells the story of the forgotten pioneering women of early jazz, uncovering how a burgeoning musical equality was deliberately quashed. The programme features archive recordings of musicians Ivy Benson (1913-93), Gracie Cole (1924-2006) and Kathy Stobart (1925-2014), who were part of the UK's post-war jazz scene in the 1940s, but whose careers have been largely forgotten.

On Radio 4!!!

Well, it's repeated this coming Saturday at 3.30 pm, also on Radio 4.

Several string players at the RAM joined the Ivy Benson Band and also a girl who was determined to learn the trombone as her principal subject and also joined Ivy Benson.

Another source for recruitment was the WRAC Military Band* whose members' experience in the lighter side of music drew them to employment in the Ivy Benson outfit when they left the army.

So for the female instrumental students at the RAM it became a choice between Kathleen Riddick's orchestra for the "straight" players and Ivy Benson (to at least earn a living playing) on completing their musical studies.

* I heard the WRAC band playing on the Eastbourne Bandstand as recently as 1983, but they have since disbanded (no pun intended) and have been absorbed into the Regimental and Line Bands of the British Army.

A very valuable addition for concert work, but they do look a little out of place on the March


HS

[jean]

...but they do look a little out of place...

That's more or less what the BBC said to Kathy Stobart.

Shame on them.

[Hornspieler]

That's more or less what the BBC said to Kathy Stobart.

Shame on them.

Kathy probably rivalled Ronnie Scott as the best Tenor Saxophonist (and teacher) of that "Archer Street" era.

[french frank]

On Radio 4!!!

You may have noticed that Radio 3 has been gradually reducing/cutting speech-based music programmes:

Jazz File
Discovering Music
The Early Music Show (one)
The Saturday Music Feature
World Routes

Looks like a policy.

[amateur51]

You may have noticed that Radio 3 has been gradually reducing/cutting speech-based music programmes:

Jazz File
Discovering Music
The Early Music Show (one)
The Saturday Music Feature
World Routes

Looks like a policy.

Well with all that "presenter"-chat perhaps they think no-one will notice

I agree - it looks like a policy

[Serial_Apologist]

Several string players at the RAM joined the Ivy Benson Band and also a girl who was determined to learn the trombone as her principal subject and also joined Ivy Benson.

You could almost be speaking of Annie Whitehead, a trombonist originally from Manchester well-known on the UK jazz circuit whio did a stint with Ms Benson and iirc sometimes subsequently played with The Communards.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

alas missed it ... listening to R4 is against my er religion [well if i had one]


the only thing the Suits@Aunt aspire to is to be a better commercial station than the commercial station .... time the Corporation was removed from their stewardship eh


there are some living people playing jazz here are two ladies and two chaps

Karen Sharp and Joe Fooks were great players with Humph and are still playing gigs ....not on R3 R2 or BBC4 eh

[Serial_Apologist]

alas missed it ... listening to R4 is against my er religion [well if i had one]


the only thing the Suits@Aunt aspire to is to be a better commercial station than the commercial station .... time the Corporation was removed from their stewardship eh

Could be worth catching on Saturday's repeat, Calum. I'm sure God won't mind...

[jean]

Definitely.

Much of the talk about music on R4 is very good - far better than on any commercial station.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Definitely.

Much of the talk about music on R4 is very good - far better than on any commercial station.

ah well it must be so i would not know .... but the rest of the Tory Party at Tea, if not Prayer, does me head in ...

the talk about music on the Third Programme was really good, if contentious ....

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

you may have noticed that radio 3 has been gradually reducing/cutting speech-based music programmes:

Jazz file
discovering music
the early music show (one)
the saturday music feature
world routes

looks like a policy.

...jazz library.

Bn.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"BBC News is “completely obsessed” by
the agenda set by newspapers and
follows the lead of the Daily Mail and
Daily Telegraph too much, according to
senior journalist Robert Peston.
The BBC’s economics editor, in a
question-and-answer session after
delivering the British Journalism Review
Charles Wheeler lecture on Thursday
evening, said he found this “most
frustrating” and attributed it to a
safety-first approach by programme
editors." - Guardian 6/2014.

Well, they have certainly fkd themselves up for good in Scotland. And elsewhere in the "Union".

BN.

[french frank]

...jazz library.

Bn.

And Jazz Library

[Ian Thumwood]

I will try to catch the programme again but the initial thread suggests that there were no women playing jazz prior to the big band era in the UK. It would be interesting to learn whether there were women performing genuine jazz in the 1920's - I can't think of any examples before Valaida Snow who was an American working in Europe before the war.

My parents went to see the multi - reed player Amy Roberts perform at the Concorde Club last week and both were extremely impressed. I must admit that I'd never heard of her before and it appears that she hasn't been on the scene too long. I think my Dad heard her first with Chris Barber's Ellington style big band but with her own group she is a bit more contemporary. I suppose you'd call her approach mainstream. My Dad bought her album with fellow-reed player Richard Exell and the results are pleasant enough like so much British jazz and difficult to criticise from a performance point of view. Personally, I found the results pretty easy to listen to and the kind of stuff that would probably attract an audience from outside jazz - especially with a pretty clever arrangement of Chopin's "Minute Waltz." Some of the arrangements on the disc by Richard Exell are good and exhibit quite a bit of imagination and Amy Roberts is extremely versatile across a wide range of instruments. Not really my cup of tea, I'm afraid.

She might be someone SA is aware of and he might know how diverse her playing is and therefore whether my perception was a bit unfair. Not really the kind of jazz I would tend to check out. More information here:-

http://amyrobertsjazz.co.uk/biography.html